Campaign calls on B.C. based Americans to vote for Bernie Sanders

A grassroots campaign calling for Americans in British Columbia to vote for Bernie Sanders in the democratic primary election is starting to gain traction.

The group “BC for Berine” is aiming to rally the province’s 70,000+ American residents to vote in the Democrats Abroad Global Primary that runs until March 8.

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Nathanel Lowe joined the movement because he’s excited about Sanders’ campaign. He and his wife moved here about a year ago from Los Angeles and wanted to get involved somehow in the election.

“We were getting really excited about his campaign, especially hearing about Iowa, and him winning New Hampshire, and really going against the political establishment in the United States,” Lowe tells Vancity Buzz.

Lowe came across BC for Bernie on Facebook and decided to get involved. They had a democratic debate watch party and hosted a phone bank event, and now Lowe is trying to spread the word to more people.

Lowe believes rallying Americans to vote in the Democrats Abroad Primary will have a strong impact on the election outcome.

“The Democrats Abroad has a state-level status in the primary. It has 17 untouched delegates and a total of 23 delegates,” he says.

“It can have a disproportionate impact on the election just because of the low voter turnout in the Democrats Abroad Global Primary.”

For his part, Lowe thinks Sanders will have a positive impact on America, especially when it comes to implementing universal healthcare.

“Living here in Canada, we’ve seen how easy it is to use the system here and when people say it’s not possible in the United States, we know that’s not true.”

The group is holding a “Barnstorm” rally at the Cedar Cottage Pub on Saturday, and anyone in Vancouver interested in volunteering for Bernie Sanders is encouraged to join, according to the group.